


in which joshua is a little bitch like usual and neku is not okay (like usual)

by DootNoot7125



Series: Hire Me, Squenix (Or At Least Give Me Conductor Neku) [1]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Conductor Neku, Gen, Light Angst, One Shot, Post-Canon, may end up becoming a full-fleged au, somewhat inspired by boy with a coin / signal to noise series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-21 23:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15569052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DootNoot7125/pseuds/DootNoot7125
Summary: big thanks to mimi for encouraging me to write and post thisalso what are titles haha titles are dumb





	in which joshua is a little bitch like usual and neku is not okay (like usual)

Neku had expected things to return to normal after the Game. He should’ve known better. He tried to ignore an ever present tingling sensation, more of a buzzing, in his chest, and thankfully he had gotten fairly good at it. Occasionally he thought he saw a pair of people fighting Noise, but he’d blink and they’d be gone.

The first time he ran into Players in a shop, he could instantly tell. Two boys, one had reached for the same shirt he was about to take off a rack, and when they locked eyes, Neku recognized the tiredness, but most of all, the fear. In a sort of shocked silence, he turned and walked away, not knowing what else to do.

He pretended he didn’t see the boys vanish as soon as they walked out the front door.

It had started with Joshua, really. Just like it always did. Neku was spending time with Shiki, Eri, Beat, and Rhyme, and the Composer just showed up out of nowhere. He was fully convinced that Josh only lived to torment him at that point.

“Hey.” Just like that. As if nothing had ever happened between them.

“Josh.”

“You know him?” Neku turned to face Shiki, the one who had asked, with an incredulous look on his face.

“What are you talking about? It’s Joshua, he kinda ruined--” before he could finish, a hand was on his shoulder, the buzzing in his chest grew, and he felt the whole world shift around him. He almost fell over from how dizzying it was.

Joshua caught him, which was probably the nicest thing he had ever done in his entire life. “Now, now, dear, we can’t just go around telling everyone who I am,” his voice had that annoying smug sing-song that Neku was still familiar with, “that would ruin what little balance there is in Shibuya’s Game.”

“First of all, _never_ call me that ever again; secondly, the rest of my sentence was only that you ruined all of our lives for three weeks straight, and I'm pretty sure forever in my case.” The buzzing wasn’t going away, and it was starting to get annoying. Come to think of it, he didn’t really feel normal either, like the air he was breathing was too thin or too thick.

“Something wrong, _dear_?” Asshole. And there was the smirk.

“Yeah actually, you show up out of nowhere and expect me to be all buddy-buddy when you fucked over my entire life, there’s this annoying buzzing feeling i have that only got worse after you showed up, and moving in general feels strange, and nobody seems to remember who you are, care to explain?”

“It’s all for the best. As for the rest, all I did was raise your Frequency... well I paused time in the RG too, but that shouldn’t really matter at the moment.”

Frequency? Wait, then... “We’re... in the UG?”

Joshua sighed and tucked some of his hair behind an ear. “Really, Neku, you’re so dense sometimes. Yes, we’re in the UG, the “buzzing”, as you put it, is your Frequency. The reason why is simple, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Well, here we are, talking. Objective complete, now leave.” Neku turned away from the Composer, not willing to admit he had no clue how to return to the RG. He didn’t get paid enough for dealing with Joshua. Not that he got paid at all, but christ the guy was annoying.

“ _Neku,_ ” before he could even register the anger in Joshua’s voice, Neku felt what could only be described as a wall of nothing but power closing in on him, _“this is serious.”_

The teen in question glanced in Joshua’s direction, only to see that he was both _glowing_ and definitely not in the form of a teenager. It only lasted for a moment before everything returned to how it was before.

Neku didn’t say anything, but his own words echoed through his mind. _‘I can’t forgive you, but I trust you.’_ “Okay, you got my attention. What is it?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. I want you to look behind you. Don’t turn, just your head.”

Of fucking course he would be cryptic as hell again. Fine.

“Why are you being so oddly speci-- WHAT THE FUCK!?” Why were there _wings!_ **_On his back!!_ ** He looked back at Joshua, the little shit seemed to be _enjoying_ this. “No. No. I’m not-- I’m not a Reaper, I’m not dead, _I’m not going to kill Players--”_

“Shh. You’re right, you’re not a Reaper. You’re of a much higher rank than that.”

“What-”

“Tell me Neku, do you remember what you have to do in order to become the Composer? It was Beat’s goal at one time, and he was your partner, so it’d be quite sad if you forgot.”

“Can it. Yeah, I remember. Kill you, the current Composer.”

“The same can be said for the position of Conductor.”

“Wh- no. Nonononono I am _not_ the Conductor, I can’t-- I have a life to live, the Reapers either hate me or took pity on me after the third week, and I sure as hell am not dealing with _you_ every day, much less feeling responsible for every person that dies in the Game.”

Neku wasn’t aware of it, but Joshua could feel his Frequency rising in his stress, disturbing the Music that flowed through Shibuya to a surprising degree.

“I don’t make the rules, dear, you don’t have a choice.” It was the truth, but the Music, normally something close to hip-hop, was getting more erratic and distorted by the second. If Neku didn’t calm down soon, the consequences would be immense.

Neku’s thoughts were frantic, he wasn’t even sure if he was speaking them anymore. Everything felt like it was closing in around him, it was too loud, too bright, and all in his face. His... wings kept twitching, and he hated the feeling of them. He knew they shouldn’t be there, and yet... they almost felt natural.

The next thing he knew, Josh had closed the little distance between them, and reached behind him. It took a moment to realize he feeling Josh’s hand on his wings. It was strange... and also felt like a breach of privacy, like if someone had opened up the door to his room without knocking.

“For future reference, wings are extremely vulnerable. Sorry, Neku.” He didn’t even get a chance to ask what Josh had meant before a surge of pain went through his wings and his world went black.

\-----

When he woke up, he was propped against a wall, and four worried voices were calling his name. Someone’s hands were on his shoulders, shaking him.

“Beat! Stop shaking him, you might hurt him!” That was Eri, no doubt.

Neku raised a hand and put it on the inside of one of Beat’s arms, shoving it off him. “Beat, I think you gave me whiplash...”

“Oh thank god you’re okay, I was worried...”

“I’m fine, Shiki. I just... I just need to go home, sorry.”

It was Rhyme who piped up next. “Are you sure that’ll be alright? You passed out.”

Neku stood up, using the wall as a bit of support before trusting his ability to walk on his own. “Yeah. I need some time alone.”

He wasn’t looking at the group, but he could tell they all turned to Shiki, the one who knew him best. Whenever his emotions got too complicated again (was it possible that could be in part to him being intertwined with the city? He dismissed the thought immediately), it was her who ultimately made the decision of what to do.

“If you say so, Neku. Just... tell us if you start feeling worse, okay? Be sure to drink water!”

He looked at her, trying to muster up a smile, but it probably only made him look just as tired and defeated as he felt. “Yeah.”

At a Frequency even higher than the UG, Joshua stood in his true form, watching his new Conductor walk home. He could truly become a formidable one, hell, the kid could probably kill him and become Composer if he really put his mind to it.

But even he knew when to leave someone alone so that they could sort their emotions. It wasn’t something he’d had to do in a long time, and quite frankly, with his position, emotions only got in the way, but there was something endearing about such a human quality.

He only hoped Neku would make the right decision, especially since other Composers had set their sights on him. Some for recruitment, and some for his destruction.

What it all boiled down to was the fact that becoming the Conductor of Shibuya was the easiest way Joshua could keep his Proxy safe.


End file.
